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Tag Archives: quick

Baked Ziti

Happy fall everyone! Gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve been on here blogging but I have had a pretty good excuse… I’m 15 weeks PREGNANT! Which then means, for my first trimester I was having a significant problem with keeping food down and even wanting foods other than bagels, pizza, and snacky foods. Now that I am cruising into the second trimester, I am slowly getting back into cooking and experimenting with a variety of different foods, and have always wanted to create a simple but delicious version of Baked Ziti.

This recipe features two of my favorite products from Organic Valley, a company that I hold dear to my heart. I love their values and mission to ensure all of their coops are pasture raised and do not cut corners, which is clear when you drink their milk or use their eggs. For this particular baked ziti, I opted for regular pasta, marinara, some dried seasonings (oregano and parsley) and ricotta and eggs from Organic Valley.

To start, I boiled a pot of water and cooked the pasta to al dente, about a minute less than what the box suggested. I strained the pasta and added it to a 9×13 pyrex baking dish, pre-lined with some marinara. I mixed in the ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and more sauce. I repeated this step until it was fully coated with sauce and ricotta. One thing I’ve learned from experimenting with baked ziti in the past is ensuring that there is plenty of sauce and ricotta so that it does not dry out.

Preheated the oven to 375 degrees. I dolloped some ricotta on top, sprinkled my Organic Valley cheese on top. Once the oven preheated, I baked the ziti for 15 minutes, then turned the oven to broil and broiled the ziti for 7 minutes just into most of the cheese turned brown. My husband, who is a pasta aficionado, even commended me for this one. Looks like I’ll be making this again soon. NOMaste 🙂

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Baked Ziti

Course Dinner
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword baked food, baked ziti, pasta, traditional
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 8 people
Author nomastehungry

Ingredients

  • 2 containers Organic Valley ricotta cheese
  • 1 box Pasta (I used mezzi rigatoni)
  • 1 24oz jar Rao's marinara
  • 2 cups Organic Valley shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Dried oregano
  • Dried parsley
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to water and pour in pasta. Cook to desired doneness or box directions. Once done, drain pasta.

  2. Line a 9×13 pyrex baking dish with marinara sauce.

  3. Pour drained pasta into dish. Pour more marinara sauce, scoops of ricotta, and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese into the pasta and mix well.

  4. Continue to add marinara and ricotta until the pasta is fully coated and wet. Sprinkle with dried oregano and parsley.

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  5. Spread mozzarella cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

  6. Turn oven to broil and broil for 7 minutes until cheese is melted and browned. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Use gluten free pasta if you desire!  Banza works very well!

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Pizzadillas

This recipe literally came to me while I was watching HGTV the other night. I saw an ad for Domino’s pizza – which let’s be honest – is kind of OG college pizza (cheesy bread? don’t even get me started), and I got the idea to make quesadillas with the filling being that of what goes onto a pizza. I wish there was a better story behind them, but nope, just my belly saying “DO IT!”

I’m also really glad that I had leftover sauce from the meatballs I made last week, which if you missed, the link is here. I used most of the leftover marinara sauce for the filling of the ‘dilla and layered in some mozzarella cheese, sprinkled oregano, and quaintly placed some slices of pepperoni.

I’m still learning how to use my stove and oven, so one of the bottoms of the pizzadillas did burn, but I’m cool with that. Here’s the deets on the ‘dillas:

  • Start with a package of tortillas (we used Mission just for testing recipe purposes – I’ll make these again with Siete)
  • Get all ingredients out and ready prior to beginning.
  • You’ll need:
    • 1 package sliced pepperoni
    • Dried oregano
    • Mozzarella cheese (grated)
    • Tortillas
    • Really good marinara (I recommend making your own or Rao’s – less sugar and good ingredients)
  • Heat a pan and add the tortilla to the pan, letting it crisp and warm up
  • Spoon some marinara onto the tortilla and spread around
  • Sprinkle oregano, mozzarella, and layer in pepperoni
  • Cover the top with a second tortilla and flip.
  • Repeat for as many pizzadillas as you’d like (my ingredients yielded 4 pizzadillas and we were definitely full!)

I love quesadillas and am looking forward to making more varieties and sharing them with you soon! NOMaste 🙂

New Years Eve Throw-down! Appetizer II: “Pigs in a Blanket”

Who even came up with the “pigs in a blanket” name? Either way, New Years is never NYE without these guys present at the appetizer table. I feel like people never say no to them also, and so that’s why they’re always a hit for parties, large or small.

Franks in blankets are basically small cocktail franks rolled up in crescent roll dough from the container. I cannot express how simple this recipe is, that I won’t be including a recipe at the bottom *GASP*

…still working on my flat lay and making these pics fancy but I’m just living my best life

The reason I chose to make these on my own is because I have honestly always wanted to see if I can make them just as good as the store-bought kind. Survey says, YES!

Alright, here’s the breakdown of ingredients:

  • One 8oz can of crescent rolls
  • One package cocktail franks
  • Melted butter
  • Coarse sea salt

To make these babies is totally simple:

  1. Open canister of crescent rolls and pull apart at the perforated seams.
  2. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and lay out the crescent roll dough
  3. Cut the dough into smaller portions
  4. Take a cocktail frank and start at the thinner end of one of the crescent rolls and roll from one end to the other, pinching at the end. Repeat
  5. Spray a nonstick pan with olive or coconut oil, layer the piggies on the pan, spread the melted butter on top, then sprinkle with salt.
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375* (adjust heat as needed).

These will easily become a staple at any event, in fact, I’m planning these for a Superbowl party along with another showstopper: spinach dip! Nomaste 🙂

Sourdough French Toast with Caramelized Apples

I have a serious question: if you were to choose a sweet breakfast item, what would it be?  Pancakes? Waffles? French toast? All of the above? (haha, I kid… maybe not).  I 9 times out of 10 would choose french toast, even though I prefer a savory breakfast like sausage and biscuits or a good ol’ scrambled egg.  Nevertheless, a sweet breakfast like french toast is perfect on a gloomy Sunday morning and is incredibly easy to make.IMG_0307

My favorite bread to use for this is sourdough.  What I love about sourdough is that it is a fermented bread so it actually does more good than harm to your digestive system, and your waistline.  Sourdough is made with wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria which helps to bake or leaven the bread in a natural way.  It also helps to make other nutrients available to you such as zinc, magnesium, and other important minerals our bodies need regularly.  (note: if you have never done a Spectracell blood panel to see your mineral levels, I highly suggest you do… 80% of humans are deficient in magnesium which is a MAJOR aid in providing us with deep sleep and adrenal support.. I’m no doctor, but I’m a nerd with this stuff and fully believe in naturopathic medicine..)  As all french toast recipes go, you make the egg dredge with three large eggs, cream/milk, and cinnamon.  I’m starting to cut back from a lot of dairy so I use coconut creamer from TJ’s (Trader Joe’s).  I blended this together and set aside.  I grabbed two medium sized gala apples (Gala work beautifully as they’re sweet but also tart and tend to break down quickly) and dice them into bite size.  I melt 2 tablespoons of butter and throw the apples in and let them do their thing.  After a few minutes and tossing the apples around in the butter, I add a very small dosage of brown sugar (you could use coconut sugar too) and a dash of cinnamon.  When the apples get soft and almost glossy, turn the burner off and set aside.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of butter in a separate pan and make your french toast as you would: dip the bread in the dredge, then into the pan, brown for 2 minutes on each side, etc.  Ladle the apples on top of the bread and drizzle with your favorite condiments, I used a small amount syrup and was a happy camper.  I can imagine whipped cream and some walnuts would be yummy too!  Nomaste 🙂

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Sourdough French Toast with Caramelized Apples

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword apples, breakfast, brunch, caramelized, foodie, french toast, savory breakfast, sourdough
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 1 person
Author nomastehungry

Ingredients

  • 3 slices Sourdough bread medium sized, brand of your preference!
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream or milk I used coconut creamer (found on my fav products page!)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon powder
  • 2 medium Gala apples
  • pinch brown sugar

Instructions

For the apples

  1. Clean, cut, and dice up the apples into bite size chunks.  Heat a pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter and let melt.

  2. Add apples in and toss to coat apples evenly.  Let sit and bubble for five minutes.

  3. Add 1/2 tbsp more of butter and stir.  Layer in the brown sugar and cinnamon powder (a pinch of brown sugar is enough) and mix together.  Continue to mix occasionally until apples are glossy and tender.  Set aside.

For the french toast

  1. Crack three medium eggs into a bowl and whisk. Add in cream or milk preference and cinnamon.  Whisk together.

  2. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large pan and melt. Dip a slice of sourdough bread into the egg dredge then into the melted buttered pan.  Cook for two minutes on each side. Repeat for remaining bread slices.

  3. Ladle apples over the bread and serve with your favorite condiments (syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, walnuts). Enjoy!

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